Spain's third city with the beach a bike ride away, and around it 150 kilometres of coastline most international buyers have yet to discover. From Oliva in the south to the beaches of Castellón in the north. Independent buying guidance since 2005, at every step.
City and beach are not a choice here Valencia is the only major Spanish city where a fifteen-minute bike ride takes you from the historic centre to the city beach. The culture, restaurants and amenities of a metropolis, with the Mediterranean as your back garden.
Around the city lies a coast that is still quiet North and south of Valencia lie beach villages, small marinas and seaside towns such as Cullera, Gandia and Benicàssim, with the city 20 to 60 minutes away. Many international buyers have yet to discover them, and you can tell by the prices.
The climate holds its own against the other Costas Around 2,760 hours of sunshine, mild winters in which daytime temperatures rarely drop below 15 degrees, and a sea you can swim in well into October.
You get there quickly The airport is practically in the city, with several direct flights daily from Schiphol, Eindhoven and Rotterdam. Within Valencia you get everywhere by metro, tram and bike. The coastal towns and the hinterland connect to the centre by metro and commuter train.
Five different atmospheres in one region From an apartment in the city centre to a villa with a garden in L'Eliana, from a beach village near Sagunto to a house on the promenade of Gandia or Benicàssim. Five ways of living around one city.
The Costa de Valencia is not one place, it is five. The city itself, a green villa belt behind it, and a coast running from Oliva to beyond Castellón. For most buyers, one zone clearly suits them better than the rest.
01Third city of Spain: the historic centre, lively Ruzafa, the beach neighbourhoods Cabanyal and Patacona and the new-build around the Ciutat de les Arts.
City people, remote workers, families who want everything within cycling distance, anyone who wants to live without a car.
City apartments, renovated buildings, new-build with a pool, penthouses.
02Green suburbs with gardens and pools, international schools around the corner and the metro to the centre.
Families with children, anyone who wants space without letting go of the city.
Villas, chalets with gardens, townhouses.
03Beach villages and small marinas 15 to 30 minutes from the city. Quieter and more spacious, with the commuter train as the link.
Anyone who wants to live by the sea with the city within easy reach.
Apartments by the sea, townhouses, villas a street back from the beach.
04Wide beaches, the Albufera natural park and seaside towns that fill up in summer and settle down in winter.
Beach lovers, families, anyone who wants more home for their money 30 to 60 minutes from the city.
Apartments on the promenade, townhouses, villas in the hills near Cullera and Oliva.
05Seaside towns with a Spanish crowd, a green coastline and the Desert de les Palmes mountain range behind them.
Peace-seekers, anyone looking for Spanish seaside-town life, anyone who prefers to come by car.
Apartments by the sea, villas on the hillside, homes in golf resorts near Oropesa.
Tell us what matters to you (city or beach, garden or terrace, school or peace) and you will get a first recommendation per zone.
The Costa de Valencia has a classic Mediterranean climate: around 2,760 hours of sunshine, mild winters and just over 450 millimetres of rain per year, almost all of it falling outside the summer. The figures below are long-term averages for the city and the coast directly around it.
Averaged across the city. Even in winter you get six hours of sun a day, and the terraces are open all year.
October is the wettest month; in July almost nothing falls. The showers are short and heavy, no grey weeks.
The sea breeze tempers the summer heat, but the air here is more humid than on the dry south coast: 30 degrees in August feels stickier than in Torrevieja. Towards Castellón and inland it is just a touch cooler.
Not the heat of August, not the crowds of Las Fallas in March. You see the city and the seaside towns at their everyday pace, and that is exactly what you want to judge.
Valencia airport (VLC) is around ten kilometres from the centre. The metro gets you there in half an hour. KLM flies nonstop twice daily from Schiphol, alongside Transavia, easyJet and Vueling, also from Eindhoven and Rotterdam. For Gandia and Oliva, Alicante is an alternative just over an hour away.
From the Netherlands it is roughly 18 to 19 hours of driving via France and Barcelona. With an overnight stop you do it comfortably in two days. The AP-7 is toll-free on this stretch.
The high-speed train (AVE) takes you from Valencia to Madrid in around 1 hour and 45 minutes, connecting to the European network. Towards Barcelona you ride along the coast in 2.5 to 3 hours.
In the city you get everywhere by metro, tram and bike. The villa belt connects to the centre by metro, the coast by commuter train (cercanías) from Gandia to Castellón. For the seaside towns and the hinterland a car is convenient.
Valencia attracts a different international crowd than the other Costas: younger, more often working or running a business, more often with school-age children. In recent years the city has ranked among the most popular European cities to move to.
The Nederlandse Zakenkring Valencia has connected Dutch-speaking entrepreneurs and professionals since 2010. There are also active networks of Dutch and Belgian families, and along the coast the group of overwinterers is growing.
At the same time this remains a genuinely Spanish region. The international community is a layer within city life, not a separate world beside it.
A fast-growing group in the city and the villa belt, plus overwinterers along the coast.
In private clinics such as Quirónsalud and IMED you are helped in English. Dutch-speaking GPs are scarce.
A network of Dutch-speaking entrepreneurs and professionals, with monthly meetings.
As Spain's third city, Valencia has a complete international offering: British, American, French and German. The schools are concentrated in the northern belt around Puçol and in the villa belt near La Cañada and L'Eliana.
The Spanish public school is bilingual here, Spanish and Valencian, just as on the Costa Blanca. A fine route for young children, something to weigh consciously for older ones.
The choice depends on how long you are coming and what you want for your child. In this region the school often determines the zone you live in. We include the school choice in our advice on the zone.
School fees range from €0 (public school) to around €12.000 per year (international schools in the upper years). If the choice becomes complex, we connect you with an education adviser.
Spain has two healthcare systems side by side: the public system (SNS) and private clinics. The public system is free if you work in Spain or receive a state pension from an EU country, and the quality is good. For an appointment with a specialist you sometimes wait a little longer. That is why many foreigners take out a supplementary private policy.
Valencia is an academic healthcare city: the public hospital La Fe is among the largest in Spain, and privately you have Quirónsalud Valencia, IMED Valencia and Vithas, among others. Specialist care that on the other Costas means driving to the city is right around the corner here. Along the coast, the hospitals of Gandia, Sagunto and Castellón cover the seaside towns.
Do you receive a state pension from another EU country? Then your healthcare rights move with you to Spain via an S1 form. That is a statement issued by the health authority in your home country. You use it to register with the Spanish public system, and your health insurance at home does not need to continue.
A first picture to calibrate your expectations. Valencia city is at a record: on average around €3.400 per m² (idealista, spring 2026, more than 12% higher than a year earlier), with the Eixample above €5.000 per m². Along the coast prices are clearly lower: Gandia and Cullera around €2.000 to €2.300 per m², Benicàssim around €2.500. We give you a sharper estimate per search profile.
Prices exclude purchase costs. For resale property in the Valencia region you pay 9% transfer tax (ITP), and 11% on the portion above €1 million (rate since 1 June 2026). For new-build you pay 10% VAT plus 1,4% stamp duty (AJD). On top of that, count on 1 to 2% for notary and registration.
Indication based on asking prices in the market, reference date September 2026. We keep this table up to date.
Homes not publicly for sale may fall below or above these ranges.
I guide buyers in Valencia city and along the coast around it, from Oliva to Castellón. Before becoming a consultant, I was the first point of contact at Costa Select for almost everyone who got in touch. So I know which questions you have before you ask them, and what a purchase involves in practice.
My background is in selling products and services where listening well matters more than talking. I bring that with me: I find out what you really want, show you what the region has to offer, from an apartment in Ruzafa to a house by the sea near Sagunto, and tell you honestly what suits you and what does not.
Personal, involved and straightforward.
We work on seven Spanish coasts. Three short comparisons with regions buyers often weigh against this one.
City and sea, life all year round, and a coast that is still quiet.
Villages and bays an hour's drive south, greener and hillier.
Flatter and cheaper beach life, with the largest Dutch-speaking community in Spain.
The other big city-by-the-sea choice: Málaga and the sophisticated west coast.
The questions we get most often about living on the Costa de Valencia. Missing something? Ask Dean directly.
We count the coast from Oliva in the south to Sagunto in the north, plus the Castellón coast with Benicàssim, Oropesa and Alcossebre, and the hinterland around the city. Valencia city is the centre and has its own page. Everything lies within an hour of the airport.
In a no-obligation conversation of an hour, Dean tells you what suits you, what does not, and which zone fits your situation. Since 2005 we have guided Dutch and Belgian buyers in Spain, more than 800 purchases by now.
